Many infants have a suckling instinct during the first years of their lives. This instinct ensures that the infant receives his required nutrition. However, infants often have a suckling urge when they are not hungry such as when they are upset or tired. Pacifiers are used to satisfy an infant's non-nutritional suckling instinct in order to comfort them.
Unfortunately, children regularly drop or throw their pacifiers on the ground. This will cause the pacifier be covered with dirt and bacteria. This is very frustrating for the parent as it is almost impossible to wash a pacifier every time it is dropped or touches something dirty.
A known solution is the Razbaby Keep-it-clean pacifier. This pacifier has, besides the common nipple and the shield, a built-in nipple cover which cons consists of two spherical shaped cover parts. The two cover parts are connected to each via a joint. When a child sucks on the nipple, the cover parts are hold in an open position by a spring release. When the pacifier falls out of the child's mouth and the shield or the cover parts hit the ground, the spring release is triggered and the cover parts connect to each other, thereby surrounding the nipple.
A disadvantage of this pacifier is that it contains many parts. The present invention addresses the existing problem.